1983 Cotton Bowl Classic

December 2025 August 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic 47th Cotton Bowl Classic Cotton Bowl Classic 1983.png January 1 1983 1982 Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Panthers 9–2 6 6 Foge Fazio Independent 0 0 3 0 Southern Methodist University SMU Mustangs 10–0–1 4 4 Bobby Collins SWC 0 0 0 7 Wes Hopkins7(SMU SS)Lance McIlhenny (SMU QB) Pittsburgh by 2½ pointshttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DNFRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9G0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2296%2C66111 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The latest line January 1, 1983 13 Jimmy Harper (SEC) 60,359 CBS Lindsey Nelson, Pat Haden,and Pat O'Brien thumb|The Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, hosted the Cotton Bowl Classic. The 1983 Cotton Bowl Classic was the 47th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, on Saturday, January 1.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rG8RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XuIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2996%2C61622 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon wire services reports Cotton Bowl January 1, 1983 3B Part of the 1982–83 bowl game season, it matched the fourth-ranked SMU Mustangs of the Southwest Conference (SWC) and the #6 Pittsburgh Panthers, an independent.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rW8RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XuIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4594%2C451463 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press Mustangs (11-0-1) cotton to No. 1 January 2, 1983 4Dhttps://www.si.com/vault/1983/01/10/627614/cottoning-on-to-no-2-its-smwho Sports Illustrated Putnam Pat Cottoning on to No. 2, it's SMWho January 10, 1983 21https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LHEjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=B2AEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4433%2C257509 Pittsburgh Press Smizik Bob Punchless Pitt kayoed by SMU in Cotton, 7-3 January 2, 1983 C1 A slight underdog, SMU rallied in the fourth quarter to win, 7–3.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=T6AmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0YYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3700%2C3282500 The Bulletin Bend, Oregon UPI SMU stakes claim to No. 1 ranking January 2, 1983 F2 The game featured SMU running back Eric Dickerson, Pittsburgh tackle Jim Covert and Pittsburgh quarterback Dan Marino; all three were first round picks in the 1983 NFL draft and are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Despite the two teams combining for 622 yards, only ten points were scored in the game as there were four turnovers, and the final one decided the game. Teams 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season Pittsburgh 1982 Pittsburgh Panthers football team The Panthers won their first seven games and attained the #1 ranking, but lost at home to Notre Dame, and later fell at rival Penn State, the eventual national champion. Through , this is their only appearance in the Cotton Bowl. SMU 1982 SMU Mustangs football team The Mustangs opened with ten wins, then tied Arkansas. This was SMU's fourth Cotton Bowl, their first in sixteen years, and remains the program's most recent major bowl appearance. Game summary Televised by CBS, the game kicked off shortly after 12:30 p.m. CST, as did the Fiesta Bowl on NBC. Temperatures in Dallas were around freezing (32 F), with light rain and sleet. The Panthers drove to the SMU 1-yard line on the game's opening series, but Panther halfback Joe McCall fumbled, and Mustang safety Wes Hopkins fell on the loose ball at the 2-yard line. SMU and Pittsburgh did not score in the half, the first scoreless first half in the Cotton Bowl in 22 years. On their first possession of the third quarter, the Panthers scored first when Eric Schubert booted a 43-yard field goal. SMU went on an 80-yard drive, capped by quarterback Lance McIlhenny's nine-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, which was the only touchdown of the day. Dan Marino then engineered a drive which put the Panthers in scoring position at the SMU 7-yard line. On third-and goal and under pressure, Marino threw a pass, but it was tipped by Hopkins and intercepted in the end zone by Blane Smith, helping to clinch the victory for SMU, who finished without a loss for the season.http://media.attcottonbowl.com/resource/history/1983/rsrc/1983-Classic-Recap.pdf Archived copy 2014-12-28 2014-02-11 https://web.archive.org/web/20140211024608/http://media.attcottonbowl.com/resource/history/1983/rsrc/1983-Classic-Recap.pdf dead Scoring First quarter No scoring Second quarter No scoring Third quarter Pittsburgh - Eric Schubert 43-yard field goal Fourth quarter SMU - Lance McIlhenny 9-yard run (Jeff Harrell kick) Source: Statistics {| class=wikitable style="text-align:center" ! Statistics !! 5SMU5 !! Pittsburgh |- | First downs || 22 || 17 |- | Yards rushing|| 60–153|| 29–104 |- | Yards passing || 101|| 181 |- | Passing || 5–9–0 || 19–37–1 |- | Total Offense || 69–254|| 66–285 |- |Punts–Average ||4–38.0|| 3–44.7 |- |Fumbles–Lost ||4–2|| 1–1 |- |Turnovers ||2|| 2 |- |Penalties–Yards ||2–30|| 8–74 |- |Time of possession || 32:48 || 27:12 |} Game leaders Rushing: SMU - Dickerson 27-124; Pittsburgh - Thomas 19-69 Passing: SMU - McIlhenny 5-8-101; Pittsburgh - Marino 19-37-181 Receiving: SMU - James 3-39; Pittsburgh - McCall 5-58, Thomas 5-38 Source: Aftermath SMU climbed to second in the final AP poll and Pittsburgh fell to tenth. References 2 Category:1982–83 NCAA football bowl games 1983 1983 1983 Category:January 1983 sports events in the United States Category:1983 in sports in Texas